The invention relates to a tablet supplying and packaging system for a prescription drug preparation. More particularly, the present invention relates to a tablet supplying and packaging apparatus which optimally combines a turntable container based system and a cassette based system to enable both a rotational tablet supplementation and a cassette-applied tablet distribution.
A doctor""s prescription generally requires one or more kinds of tablets depending on a disease type. So the more types of illnesses are reflected in a prescription, the more kinds of different tablets should a patient take per dosage. The dosage may vary from once per day to three or more times per day depending on seriousness and types of disease or how many different types of illnesses the patient suffers from.
However, as is generally known among doctors and pharmacists, the dosage per patient does not exceed five tablets per day in most prescriptions. So a mid to small size drugstores that cannot afford a costly tablet packaging system strongly require a compact size tablet supplying and packaging system which occupies less space while realizing a competitive performance. Compared to a large costly tablet packaging system, a compact size tablet supplying and packaging system needs to perform an automatic operation for tablet packaging once tablets are manually filled in tablet containers such as tablet cassettes.
Accordingly, there has been a strong demand on improvement of tablet supplying and packaging performance as well as space efficiency for such a compact size tablet packaging system.
The present invention is contrived to overcome the conventional disadvantages. Therefore, an object of the invention is to realize a compact size tablet supplying and packaging apparatus which optimally combines a turntable container based system and a cassette based system, thereby realizing a compact size tablet supplying and packaging system with high performance.
Another object of the invention is to implement compatibility between a manual tablet supplying mechanism and an automatic tablet cassette mechanism, thereby maximizing usability while improving product reliability.
To achieve the above-described objects, the tablet supplying and packaging apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a housing having an upper surface; a turntable exposedly embedded in the upper surface of the housing, wherein the turntable has a center and a plurality of tablet containers disposed around the center, wherein the turntable angularly rotates on the center thereof, wherein said each tablet container is defined by side walls, a top opening and a bottom opening; and a plurality of plates corresponding to the plurality of tablet containers, wherein said each plate is hingedly engaged to a tablet container portion adjacent to the bottom opening of said each tablet container to releasably close the bottom opening of said each tablet container, whereby one or more tablets serving as a first tablet batch for a unit dosage are either maintained in said each tablet container when the bottom opening is closed by said plate or downwardly discharged when said plate is released.
The apparatus further comprises: a cassette unit having an upper hopper, a cassette stand and a row of tablet cassettes detachably mounted on the cassette stand, wherein the cassette stand is formed on the upper surface of the housing in adjacency to the turntable, wherein the upper hopper is formed below the cassette stand and through the upper surface of the housing, whereby one or more tablets serving as a second tablet batch for the unit dosage are released from the tablet cassettes and guided by the upper hopper; a lower hopper disposed below the turntable and the upper hopper of the cassette unit to guide the first and second tablet batches; and a tablet packaging assembly disposed below the lower hopper for packaging the tablet batches selectively released from said tablet cassettes and said tablet containers into a plurality of tablet paper bags.
For a better performance, the apparatus further comprises: a support rail having a release opening, wherein the support rail is disposed beneath the bottom openings of the tablet containers to uphold the plates, where in when one selected from the tablet containers reaches over the release opening in accordance with the angular rotation of the turntable, the plate corresponding to the selected tablet container is lowered through the release opening so that the tablets in the selected tablet container are downwardly released through the release opening into the lower hopper; a vertical shaft fixed to the center of the turntable to support and center the turntable; and an operation control administering the turntable and the tablet cassettes for a tablet release operation in accordance with a data input therein.
The vertical shaft is engaged thereto by a motor to generate a force for the angular rotation of the turntable, and the motor is controlled by the operation control. The angular rotation of the turntable may be either clockwise or counter-clockwise. A sensor may be connected to the operation control for sensing the angular rotation of the turntable in accordance with the operation control to allow the tablets to be regularly discharged from the tablet containers through the release opening into the packaging assembly. Each tablet container has a sensing member disposed adjacent thereto to enable the sensor to detect the angular rotation of the turntable in accordance with the operation control, wherein the sensing member is magnetized. In case the upper hopper is defined by a front panel, a rear panel and side panels, then an angle defined by the front panel and a horizontal line is larger than a corresponding angel defined by the rear panel and the horizontal line.
In an embodiment, a disk may be provided between the turntable center and the tablet containers so as to identify said each container. The disk may be rotatable either separately from the turntable or engagedly to the turntable. With a provision of a numbering system the disk may visually gauge a tablet loading in the tablet containers.
The advantages of the present invention are: (1) the rotational tablet supplying mechanism realized by the turntable and the support rail therebelow reliably combines a manual tablet distribution into the tablet containers with an automated tablet conveying and dropping into the heater assembly for the tablet packaging, thereby substantially improving efficiency of prescription drug packaging; (2) the tablet supplying and packaging apparatus optimally combines a turntable container based system and a cassette based system, thereby enabling a small to medium size drugstore to economically adopt an automated tablet distributing and packaging facility; and (3) the numbering system implemented on the disk of the turntable further facilitates the manual tablet distribution in the tablet containers with accuracy, thereby maximizing efficiency of the tablet supplying and packaging mechanism.
Although the present invention is briefly summarized, the fuller understanding of the invention can be obtained by the following drawings, detailed description and appended claims.